A US woman who shot and killed her husband and two adult children before taking her own life is thought to have committed the shocking crime as a result of being ostracised from the religion she was raised in.

A federal judge sentenced a former Arkansas judge Wednesday to five years in prison — a stiffer punishment than prosecutors recommended — after he admitted giving young male defendants lighter sentences in return for personal benefits that included sexual favours.

Every time I tell a mate I’m doing a story on cryptocurrency, they invariably ask me the same two questions: should they invest their own hard-earned money, and which cryptocurrency will get them a Lamborghini/yacht/island quickest?

In a 60 Minutes online exclusive, reporter Liz Hayes quizzed Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on his relationship with the unpredictable Twitter aficionado and US president Donald Trump ahead of their meeting at the White House Friday.

Struggles at forefront of Tas speech

It was expected to be a speech brimming with optimism about Tasmania's economic outlook.

Instead Premier Will Hodgman's inaugural address to business and finance leaders at a forum hosted by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia opened with a reminder of the island state's struggles.

As the Liberal government, elected in March, tries to rein in debt that is running toward $400 million the premier again pointed to the public sector, which he's trying to pare back to save money.

The previous Labor government lacked fiscal discipline and oversaw a blowout in public sector wage growth, Mr Hodgman said.

"Public sector wages have increased by 5.7 per cent over the past decade while the average annual growth in the Hobart CPI was just 2.6 per cent."

In some cases the wage increases for some public sector workers reached 42 per cent over the past six years.

As a proportion of gross state product, Tasmania's public sector wage bill is "significantly higher" than the national average and trailed only the Northern Territory in 2012/13, the premier added.